Device for detecting fraudulent refilling of bottles



(No Model.)

y J. P-AWCETT. DEVIGB FOR DBTBGTING FRAUDULENT RBFILLING 0F BUTTLBS'.

Patented Mar. 9, 1897.

F'i MTJEEEES' mmmm.

muy.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN FAVCETT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS:

DEVICE FOR DETECTING FRAUDULENT REFILLING OFBOTTLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,320, dated Maren 9,1897. l

Application filed May 20, 1896.

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN FAWCETT, a citizen of Great Britain, residingat Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useiul Improvements in Devices for DetectingFraudulent Relling of Bottles, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective means ofpreventing the relling of a bottle Without detection after it has oncebeen emptied of its contents. To this end I provide a bottle having achamber or compartment so arranged that its contents are at all timesreadily visible and yet cannot be reached Without practically destroyingthe bottle, said compartment having communication with the neck of thebottle, through which the liquid contents are poured. In thiscompartment I place some material which, when wet by the contents of thebottle, will be defaced or otherwise changed in such manner as will beinstantly and plainly visible, the abovevparts being so arranged that itis impossible to empty the bottle with out introducing some of itscontents into the said compartment.

A preferred form of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure l is a central vertical section of the neck of a bottlewith my improvements applied thereto. Figs. 2 and 3 are cross-sectionsof the same, taken on lines 2 2 and 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a Viewsimilar to Fig. l, showing a modified means of securing the parts of mydevice in place. Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings the numeral 2 indicates a bottle provided with a neck 3,which, as in the case of an ordinary bottle, is unobstructed as to itsinterior and through which the bottle can readily be iilled andemptied.- Around this neck is placed a cylinder 4, of glass, which isenough larger than said neck to leavel an annular chamber or compartment5 between it and the said cylinder, the latter being kept in position bymeans of the shoulders 6 and '7 at the upper and lower ends thereof,which shoulders may be formed either on the bottleneck or on theinterior ot the cylinder, as desired.

Serial No. 592,248. (No model.)-

by contact with the liquid contained in the bottle. This substance mayconveniently consist ot a strip of blotting-paper 9, on which anydesired matter, such, for instance, as the trade-mark of the bottler, isprinted in copying or similar ink.

The parts of my device are assembled by placing the blotting-paperorother substance in the annular compartment and then slipping thecylinder down over the neck of the bottle and securing it in place insuch manner that it cannot be detached without breaking it or thebottle. For the purpose of securing the cylinder in place its lower endmay simply be cemented to the neck of the bottle, or, if preferred, agroove l0 may be formed around the interior of the lower end of thecylinder and acorresponding stud ll-provided upon the bottle, apassage-way for the stud into the groove being provided, as at 8. Inusing this construction the cylinder is slippedy into -place and is thenpartially rotated and cemented, the stud and groove in this mannerpreventing any possible removal thereof. In use my improved bottle isiilled and corked in the usual manner. When it is to be emptied, thecork is withdrawn and the liquid poured out in the ordinary manner, butin so doing some ot it necessarily gets into the annular compartment anddiscolors the `substance contained therein, so that it will beimpossible for any one to again ll the bottle and sell the same withoutthe fraud being detected.

I claim as my inventionl. A bottle provided with a visible compartmentcontaining a substance adapted to be visibly defaced by contact with thecontents of the bottle, and an opening connecting the neck of the bottleand said compartment in such manner that a portion of the liq- IOO withthe liquid contents of the bottle, all substantially as described.

3. A bottle having` a neck, a closed cylinder surrounding the saine andsupported by suitable shoulders, said cylinder being secured to thebottle, an opening connecting the interior of the neck of thebottle Withthe space surrounding the exterior thereof in such manner that a portionof the liquid contents of the bottle must pass through said opening whenthe bottle is poured from, and a substance Within said cylinder adaptedto be defaced by contact with the liquid contents of the bottle, for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed rny name this 18th dayof May, 1896.

JOHN FAWCETT. Witnesses:

ALEX. P. BROWNE, GEORGE LEMIsT CLARKE.

